Riley's Remembrances
by dbzespio
Summary: A series of short snapshots depicting Riley's past. One of a set of three prequels to Azelf's Aura. Under remake.
1. Chapter 1

Riley's Remembrances

This is something I've been thinking about for a while now. I've been wanting to give some of my main characters in my longest (and most paid attention to) fanfic some back stories so that we can gain some insight into their pasts before they meet each other. By the way, I already started Toby's back story a long while ago, but never posted it since I mostly hated it. But that's just for people who care to know.

If you haven't ever heard of my other stories than you probably don't need even know what I'm talking about, but that is OK because this is a prequel anyway. And hopefully, it may inspire you to check out my other stories if you like this one. Anyway, please enjoy!

…

Riley the young Pokémon trainer was currently heading off for Snowpoint City. He was an eager sort, ready to finally challenge the final gym for his seventh badge. He was proud that he was able to make it this far even though he was young and had just started his journey less than a year ago. He was naturally talented when it came to battling and training Pokémon. He attributed these talents solely to his father. If it weren't for him, Riley doubted he'd be the trainer he was today. But he hadn't seen his father for months now, and that hadn't halted his success. So, Riley assumed that somehow his father's teachings and talents had finally rubbed off onto him.

Beside him, Lucario grumbled quietly. Riley was slightly startled from his musings and turned to look down at his Lucario, "I know. I'm tired of this place too."

Riley might have never realized this on his own, but it could be inferred that he was a talented trainer because he had an unusual gift. This gift had puzzled him for years until he found out his father had the same gift. This gift was the ability to discern auras. At first Riley just though he was some freak for having these unusual insights, but with some training from his father, Riley was able to hone his skills and he was now off to find a way to use these skills to better the world. But for now, Riley was just focused on getting badges. He'd have his chance to save the world in due time…

But for now, Riley was feeling mildly lost. These winding caves of Mount Coronet were disorienting. If it weren't for Lucario, Riley doubted he'd be able to get through these seemingly endless mazes. The thirteen year old glanced over at his trusted partner, but his Lucario looked a little distracted.

"Something wrong?"

Lucario growled quietly. A Pokémon was following them. And from what he could tell, it wasn't native to these caves.

"Is it friendly?" Riley asked. Being a human, his aura senses could never be as sharp as his Lucario's.

Lucario nodded but still looked wary.

"Then we'll wait for it to come," Riley went over to a boulder to rest, his curiosity piqued.

Several minutes later, an unusual Pokémon bounded up to them. Her claws were unsheathed, and she had a menacing glare.

But Riley was less afraid of this and more of the implications that surrounded this Pokémon… ones that he had heard about in stories and legends ever since he was a small child.

"Absol…?" Riley breathed, staring back at the creature with awe and fear in his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Just a fair warning I want to put out there before I get started. This chapter is going to feature a pretty sad event. As a reader, I tend to hate it when I'm not warned about a possible tearjerker coming up, so I figured I'd warn you now. But hey, you might have a tougher heart than me, and it doesn't affect you in the slightest so… I don't know… Ah, I'll quit rambling so you can start reading already!

…

Riley only had faint memories of his mother. She had left his life when he was merely five years old. It was times like these that Riley wished he had gotten to know her more and had shared more of his life with her… all the joy and all the sorrow too.

Riley looked down at the grave stone below him and tried to swallow the hitch in his throat. Just like his mother… His father was now amongst her in another life.

And now…

Riley was alone.

Just then, Riley felt a twitch near his knee. Absol had nestled against him. She seemed to share his pain. And shame. Shame that they had been too late. Too late to prevent a natural disaster. One that had taken Riley's father.

Riley bent down to his knees to stroke the Pokémon. Maybe… Maybe he wasn't as alone in this world as he thought.

No. He was never alone. Riley reached into his pocket to grasp a familiar Pokéball. His hand found what he was looking for, and he turned over the tiny Pokéball in his hand.

Lucario. His last link to his father.

…

Notes: Yeah, this story consists of very short chapters in case you didn't realize that already. I'm actually a pretty big fan of micro fictions, so I guess this is how and why this was born.

And plus, I imagine Riley to be a master of brevity, and I'm trying to mirror his style as well as I can in this fic.


	3. Chapter 3

Riley could feel it in the pit of his stomach. It was swirling and whirling and eating away at his insides. Riley could barely swallow his food. He vaguely wondered if everything he was putting into his mouth would all come out again later (in a highly unsatisfying matter).

"Don't you like your dinner, Riley?" she asked. It was the first time she had said anything in an hour.

Riley hurriedly looked up from his plate, "Oh, um… yes… yes, of course," he answered quickly.

Chloe looked back down at her plate, unconvinced.

Riley watched her for a few moments before he opened his mouth to speak, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, of course not. What makes you think that?" Chloe avoided his gaze.

The seventeen year old returned to his plate with that sickening feeling returning back to his stomach. He tried to push it out of his mind, tried to remember happier times.

…

He remembered meeting her for the first time on the beach. She had a dazzling smile.

Her whole face lit up with joy at the sight of him, meeting her the second time. Her freckles tickled her nose in the same way the sun danced upon her face.

Riley liked those times. It was back when he had thought they had a chance. Now he knew.

…

Riley swallowed painfully, almost choking on his food. He knew.

"Riley? You ready to go?"

Riley pushed aside his half-eaten plate, nodded, and made to get up. He knew he couldn't stomach much more.

"Riley… I don't quite know how to say this but…" Chloe began as the two made their way through the streets of Olivine City.

Riley stopped. Didn't say anything.

"I… have to leave tomorrow. I need to go to Cianwood City…"

"We could go together," Riley suggested. Didn't look her in the eye.

"That's just it… I don't think… I don't think we should… We need some time apart, you know?"

Riley said nothing. He was right. His aura senses never failed him…

"…Riley?" Chloe suddenly asked after a long pause.

Riley merely turned his gaze back to her face.

She looked back at him with a worried look on her face, "You okay with that?"

Riley said nothing for a long time. Then he gave his answer, blunt and cold as ever, "Just fine. I was leaving anyway."

And with that, he turned and left the way he came, months ago.

…

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" a voice asked just loud enough for him to hear.

Riley turned.

She was a beautiful young woman, her dark hair long and straight as ever. She watched him expectantly, waiting for his answer to her question.

"Out of town," he responded bluntly. He was slightly nervous to read her aura, but he did it all the same.

"That's strange," she mused, a small smile forming on her face, "Why leave now? It's going to be dark in a few hours."

Riley was hardly listening. He knew how she felt about him. It was written all over her aura. She was exactly like… Chloe.

Riley merely shook his head as he left the city without another word.


	4. Chapter 4

Notes: No sad stuff this time! :)

…

Riley had just stopped for a rest when he suddenly noticed a powerful aura. Something more vivid than he had ever sensed before. He didn't even have to try to hone his senses to feel it…

Riley got to his feet and immediately released his Pokémon, "Lucario! Do you feel that?"

Lucario immediately picked up on it as well. It was headed right for them.

"I know; I feel it too," Riley stared in the direction of this strange aura. It was moving incredibly fast. Too fast for them to have any chance of avoiding it even if they wanted to.

Lucario instinctively stood before Riley despite the fact that they both knew they were done for if whatever was coming didn't happen to be in a friendly mood.

Within moments, the majestic Pokémon appeared before them.

Riley could hardly breathe.

The Pokémon stopped to stare at them as well. Nearly seven feet tall even while on four legs, the Pokémon was a creature of legends.

The fire type refused to move for several seconds as he stared the trainer and his Pokémon down. His eyes were blazing, just like his fur. However, at the last moment, his eyes softened slightly.

Then the beast disappeared as quickly as he appeared in a flash of blazing fire. Fire that, as if by miracle, did not scorch the grass blanketed across the earth.

"That… that was… Entei…" Riley finally found his words.

Before he could think to say anything more, someone ran out of the forest and nearly crashed into him.

"You there!" the young man ordered, "Did you see that just now? Were you able to catch a glimpse of a true legend?"

"Uh…" Riley was still too stunned to speak.

"Judging by your face, you have," the man answered for him, "Where did you see it? Was it Suicune? Or perhaps Raikou?"

"No…" Riley pointed where Entei had just been; this man was asking too many questions and his mouth was too slow and shocked to keep up, "It was… Entei, and he was… right there…"

The man stared at that point on the ground for a few seconds with a look of slight displeasure on his face, "Never mind. I'm probably too late to catch up to him by now anyway… But thanks all the same, I suppose."

"But I wonder…" the man turned slowly to face Riley and look him in the eye, "Just why did Entei decide to approach you? I've been chasing the legendary dog Pokémon for years… Why would one of them choose to come right to you?"

"…I don't know…"

"Never mind. I should be going. Nice meeting you. Farewell," and with that, he left.

Riley was slightly stunned. He didn't even catch this man's name.

He looked over at Lucario and rubbed his forehead slightly. What a day.

…

Notes: Yeah, I totally forget the man's name… You know, he's that guy who always chases Suicune and bugs you all the time for it. I just can't remember his name right now…


	5. Chapter 5

"Feels nice to be back home again, huh?" Riley mused to his Lucario as they wandered around the abandoned mines of Iron Island. He hadn't decided to come here to just to train his Pokémon like all the other trainers that came here. Rather, he came whenever he needed to clear his head. The place vaguely reminded him of his father. He had taken pride in this place. Riley, on the other hand, had decided to leave it to the wild Pokémon. They could roam freely without much human inference (aside from the occasional trainer of course), and he wouldn't have to deal with a mine that didn't have any valuable ore left. It worked well enough for him. And for the Pokémon too, he assumed.

Lucario growled softly. He seemed to have felt a sense of nostalgia from wandering about this place as well. But when Riley looked down at his face, he noticed his Lucario was looking around carefully almost as if he had sensed something.

"Something wrong?" Riley frowned.

Lucario just called out for his trainer to follow him and ran off through the rugged terrain.

Riley ran after his Pokémon as well as he could given the rough terrain. It wasn't until they had been running for a good while before Riley finally felt the presence of a weakened aura. He didn't recognize whom it was emanating from, but he did know that whoever it was, he wasn't in good shape.

"Almost there…" Riley mumbled. He was now certain that it wasn't a human in danger. It had to be a Pokémon, "Just down there, isn't it?" he asked his Lucario once they reached the top of a rather large rock formation.

Lucario sounded out in agreement and promptly slid down the rock face to go to help the injured Pokémon. Riley blinked back his reservations and followed suit. When he reached the bottom without a scratch, he silently commended himself for following through on all that training he had struggled through recently. It had really paid off; he was in the best shape he had ever been. He needed to be if he ever wanted to fulfill his dreams of becoming an Aura Guardian. Maybe he could even consider this his first mission…

Lucario grunted from the effort of heaving aside a particularly large boulder. The inured Pokémon must have been buried underneath these rocks. They had to hurry. Riley moved aside as many of the rocks as he could handle alongside Lucario.

Eventually, enough of the rocks were removed for the injured Pokémon to be revealed. Riley couldn't quite make out which Pokémon it was, but he knew that it was trying to wait it out inside the small crevice against the cliffside. At the sight of them, the Pokémon began to emit waves of fear.

"Don't worry… We're here to help… You have to get out of this crevice… It's not safe there…" Riley coaxed. Crimson eyes stared back at him from the darkness of the crevice. The creature wasn't going to move.

"Lucario, do you think you can reach it?" Riley asked. He knew he couldn't fit inside that small of a crevice, but perhaps Lucario could.

Lucario nodded and climbed inside to pull out the Pokémon. She was too weak to move out on her own, so he needed to drag her out.

"It's… a Lucario…" Riley breathed once his Lucario had managed to pull her out into the open. He hadn't ever seen a wild Lucario before. What was she doing here?

Lucario grunted loudly to get his attention. This Lucario was going to need to get to the Pokémon Center soon. Otherwise, things might turn out badly for her.

Riley looked thoughtful. He would need to capture her in order to take her there. There was no other way.

Riley sighed as he took out a Pokéball. He hated to do this; he had never caught a Pokémon before without beating it fair and square in a battle.

But it had to be done.


	6. Chapter 6

"Riley! I haven't seen you in AGES!" a familiar voice boomed.

Riley jumped in surprise, "Byron? Um, hi! It's nice to see you again…"

"So, what brings you here, Riley?" Byron laughed, "You haven't been to Oreburgh in YEARS! Not since you were just a little lad, coming here for your first badge no less!"

Riley smiled softly as he recalled his youth. It was truly ironic that the first Gym Leader he had ever beaten happened to live near him when he was young. Byron had been good friends with his father back when the steel ore was thriving in the mines of Iron Island. As a result, he had gotten to know him well, and even became good friends with his son, Roark. However, after the ore was all but depleted, Byron had moved to Oreburgh to work at the mines there. Not only was Byron a skilled miner, but he was also a skilled trainer. He became the new Gym Leader soon after he moved into town.

"… Just passing through, I suppose."

"Really? Is that all? Well, what do you think of this? I'd been hoping to speak with you soon! Turns out, I have an offer I'd like to see if you'd take me up on!"

"What kind of offer?"

Byron laughed loudly, "I'd like you to become Gym Leader!"

"Gym… Leader…?" Riley was at a loss for words. Why on earth would Byron just decide to surrender his post as Gym Leader? And to him of all people? It made… no sense…

"That's right!" Byron laughed, "The people over in Canalave asked me to be the Gym Leader of their town! After realizing the amount of fossils I was missing out on by NOT being there, I decided to say yes!"

"But… I thought you liked it here…"

"Nope!" Byron shook his head, "Recently, I've realized: There really aren't that many fossils here in Oreburgh… All the good ones have already been taken! There are just TOO many people here! However, there are hardly ANY people looking for fossils over on Iron Island! And plus, I heard word that there's a bunch of rare ones over there! I didn't realize how much I've been MISSING out on by NOT living there! Bwahaha!"

"So. You're asking _me _to be Gym Leader in your place," Riley clarified, his brows furrowed.

"Of course!" Byron beamed, "Couldn't think of anyone better to fill the job! You fit the bill perfectly!"

"You couldn't think of _anyone _more suited to the job than me?" Riley repeated, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Nope!"

"Are you trying to tell me that Roark is incompetent?"

"Roark…? Oh… I hadn't even thought of him…" Byron admitted and scratched his chin thoughtfully.

Riley frowned, "He's your own son, and you don't even think of him when it comes to deciding your replacement? Do you truly hold him in such low regard?"

"Well… I…"

"Perhaps next time you should consider all options carefully before making decisions," Riley said gruffly before making to leave.

Byron scratched his head thoughtfully, "Hmm… Wow… Maybe that _was _pretty short-sighted of me! BWAHAHA!"

Riley turned back to face him with an eyebrow raised. Even in the worst of times, Byron was just far too light-hearted and strange to ever be taken… seriously.


	7. Chapter 7

Riley walked up to the newly built battle facilities of the Battle Zone. He figured he might as well try his hand at them. He hadn't set aside much time to challenge his team for a while now.

"Whoa! Who the heck do you think you are, just marching right on in? Only strong trainers are allowed here!"

Riley whirled around to face someone around his age, but that was about the only similarity between them. This young man was dressed in overtly casual clothing, not to mention it was rather ill-fitting. Riley wasn't certain what was stranger about this person… his mandals or his bright red afro haircut.

"Yo! Earth to Blue Suit! Yeah, I'm talking to you! What are you staring at, anyway?"

"N-nothing…"

"Oh yeah?" he stared back as if angry, but then he suddenly smirked, "The name's Flint. Who're you?"

"R-Riley."

"Riley, huh? So, what _are_ you doing here, anyways?"

"I came to battle…"

"Really? Then how about you battle me first?" Flint tossed a Pokéball into the air and caught it in the same hand without even looking over at it.

"Sure. Why not?" Riley agreed.

"How about a one on one? I don't want to spend all day teachin' you a lesson, and I didn't come all this way just to battle the dude I found at the front door!"

"…The same goes for me. I'm ready for whatever kind of battle you want. Let's get started."

"Alright then! Rapidash! Go!"

"Salamence! It's your turn!"

The flames on Flint's Rapidash blazed beautifully in the slight wind. Salamence's nose twitched slightly, and the large dragon type frowned. He hated the smell of fire! It reminded him of smoke, and that stuff was horrible! It always blocked his sense of smell with its suffocating stench!

"Now, Rapidash! Use your Fire Blast attack!"

Rapidash unleashed a dazzling array of fire in a brilliant star formation. Salamence quickly spread his wings and flew off to the side to avoid it.

"Good work, Salamence! Now use Fly!"

Salamence flew up high into the skies, happy to be away from that foul-smelling Rapidash.

"Use your Bounce attack, Rapidash!"

Rapidash bounced up into the air nearly as high as Salamence. And that was saying something because he was actually using wings to fly. But things just became stranger still. Even after she had reached the peak of her jump, Rapidash still hovered in the air as if gravity had no effect on her whatsoever. Salamence could only gape. Was Rapidash flying… even without wings?

"Hey! Come on, now!" Flint suddenly exclaimed rather loudly, "It's your turn, blue suit! Get going and quit your cheating!"

"Er… right… Fly back down now, Salamence."

Salamence did as he was told, even though he was still pretty confused. Once he landed, Rapidash finally fell down from her leap into the sky and slammed into him.

"Use Dragon Claw!" Riley ordered. Salamence's claws shined a purplish hue as he slashed at Rapidash. The horse Pokémon was too close to dodge, and suffered from the full blow.

"Fire Blast!" Flint cried. Rapidash promptly whirled around to deliver a fierce Fire Blast straight at the dragon type, which hit him head-on.

"Hang in there, Salamence, and use Zen Headbutt!"

Salamence slammed his head into Rapidash's side; psychic energy swirled violently as the blow made contact.

"Finish it with Flare Blitz!" Flint called out. However, Rapidash was unable to attack just yet. Thanks to the heavy blow from Salamence's Headbutt, she flinched.

"Now's your chance! Finish this with Crunch!" Riley cried. Since Rapidash had only just recovered from that last attack, it was easy for Salamence to sink his dark-empowered teeth into his opponent. After this, Rapidash sank to the ground and fainted.

"Shoot, man, you sure were lucky," Flint said to Riley as he recalled his fire type back into her Pokéball.

"Thank you," Riley replied after he had managed to escape from Salamence's crushing embrace. The dragon type was delighted to have won the battle _and _freed the air of Rapidash's vicious scent.

"Yeah, I would've had ya too, if only Rapidash hadn't flinched…" Flint looked thoughtful, "Maybe I should've went with a two on two… Ah, oh well. You beat me fair and square. You're alright in my book."

"Thank you. It was a pleasure battling with you as well," Riley answered politely and decided to recall Salamence for now.

"Yeah… you're one weird dude… That's for sure."

"Excuse me?"

"It's not often that I battle a guy my own age, and he doesn't try to rub it in my face when he wins… especially now that I'm in the Elite Four."

"You-you're in the Elite Four?"

Flint smirked at Riley's shock, "Yeah… duh! Where you been all this time, huh? I've been on the Elite Four for over a year now."

"…Really? Wow, I should keep up on these things…"

"'Ey, it's alright, blue suit!" Flint playfully slugged Riley on the arm, "So! What do you say we take on this place together and break some double battle records?"

"Uh, sure…"

"Great!" Flint grinned, "With you hangin' around, it'll be easy to pick up chicks! Volkner always scares 'em off with his stupid whining, but the ladies'll love a polite and mysterious dude like you!"

"…If you say so…"

oOoOoOo

Notes: Yeah, I've been beyond lazy with this story… and I still hate this chapter. Well, at least it's the longest one yet… I think…

Anyway, I figure the next chapter will be the last one. It shouldn't take me too long to finish, but I've been pretty occupied with other stories lately so we'll see what happens...


End file.
